10:30 PM What a bummer the taxi cab went for the Harbor Tunnel!!! Is he deliberately trying to bring us to the Hong Kong island terminal or he really didnt understand that we wanted to be dropped off at the Tsim Tsa Tsui Ferry terminal in Kowloon. We had no choice as we were already in the tunnel. A 10 minute HKD 25.00 cab to Kowloon terminal turned into a 30 minute HKD 110.00 cab ride!!! Always have your destinations written down in Chinese just in case you encounter a non English speaking cab driver.
TRAVEL TIP: There are 3 ways to travel to Macau from Hong Kong:
> HK Intl. Airport- Macau
> Tsim Tsa Tsui Ferry terminal( Kowloon)- Macau
> Hong Kong Ferry Terminal( HK island)- Macau
Fare is around HKD 130.00 and travel time is 55 minutes
12:30 PM Arrived at Macau. The immigration lines were long took us roughly 25 minutes to get through. 2 years ago it took you only less than 15 minutes to clear immigration and the terminal. Maybe its because of the annual Macau Grand Prix, or the inflows of mainland Chinese heading to Macau to visit the casinos.
1:00 PM Macau grand Prix fever is on! the main area( grandstands, pit area, staring grid, main building) is just across the ferry terminal and is connected by an underpass. Models, Race team members, press, and spectators were ebusy shuffling to an from the ferry terminal.
Almost all the hotels have buses waiting at the Ferry Terminal. It took us 30 minutes to get to Holiday Inn, due to traffic rerouting. ( the Macau Grand Prix is a street race so majority of all roads around the ferry terminal are closed)
TRAVEL TIP: If your going to Macau purely for leisure and have no intention of going to the races, avoid visiting during the Grand Prix weekend. Hotel rates skyrocket to almost 200%, and expect tourist attractions, restaurants, and public transport to be really busy.
2:00 PM Finally got to our hotel, the Holiday Inn had a convenient location as it was walking distance to Lisboa hotel casino, and there was a couple of restaurants, convenience stores, bars around.
3:30 PM Took the bus to Senado Square it was only HKD 2.50, it was fast and convenient great value for your money. There was lots of people at the square since its the main shopping area and a popular meeting place for the locals and the Filipino workers as well.
Shops are along the different streets surrounding the main square. Nike, Adidas, Samsonite, Bossini, Diesel, Starbucks and Giordano are some of the international brands we saw.
the Porkchop bun a popular snack in Macau!
A quick walk along the shops will lead you to the Ruins of St. Paul. Originally a 17th century portugese cathedral and is one of Macaus most famous landmarks.
Streets leading to Runist of St. Paul
5:30 PM we took a cab for HKD 30.00 to the ferry terminal, then we walked towards Fishermans wharf to try the F1 simulator.
The simulator is not a video game...its a real simulator used in training race drivers. You could choose from 5 different race tracks( i only tried the Macau track). Ticket is HKD 33.00 for 5 mins or around 2-3 laps around the Macau track.
6:45 PM Now were headed to the Venetian Hotel at the Cotai Strip we took a cab( so tired!) but you could ride the free shuttle from Ferry Terminal or Sands hotel to Venetian resort. better take the shuttle as cab fare is around HKD 65.00
TRAVEL TIP: Food is definitely cheaper in Macau compared to Hong Kong. Almost all items are cheaper( 1 pack cigarette HK= 25-30 MAC= 15-18)
7:00 PM Went around the Casino. Venetian Macau is a lot bigger than Venetian Las Vegas. Prepare to spend minimum of 2 hours here just walking around and admiring the amount of detail work done to the hotels interior. We spent around 4 hours in the hotel: walked through the shopping areas, hallways, along the river and had dinner.
We had dinner at a Portugese restaurant at the Venetian. i really wanted to try the Portugese Cod( sorry i didnt take note of what we ordered). Expensive as it was around HKD200.00 per meal but definitely worth it.
Fatburger inside the Venetian.
TRAVEL TIP: Take advantage of the shuttle buses from Venetian and Lisboa to the ferry terminal. Saves you a lot of money specially when crossing to the other island as this cost HKD50-80.00.
11:00 PM Took the free shuttle back to the Ferry Terminal. Had a few rounds AGAIN of the racing simulator and then took a taxi back to the hotel.
We had limited time today due to our late arrival at Macau. Theres still a lot to do,eat and see, tomorrows the main race so i doubt if we could still go around. I really regret waking up late this morning!!!
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